- Hello Jeff,
-
- First of all I want to say I love your site, and listen
quite often.. very interesting topics at times. I lived in Springerville
for 15 years. I now live in St. John's, about 30 miles north of Springerville.
-
- Bill was considered a local colorful character. Possibly
an understatement.
-
- The sequence of events, published locally, was slightly
different than what was broadcast. In the broadcast, it was stated that
Cooper shot the Apache County Officer at the car...and THEN ran back to
his house. I spoke with one of the deputies; it was quite different according
to him. Cooper drove backwards a ways and THEN got out and ran back to
his house.
-
- The officers honestly did not want to take his life.
It was a well-known fact that Bill kept a loaded weapon just inside his
doorway, leaning against the wall. The officers wanted to stop him before
he got into his home and gained access to the weapon seen there on many
occasions by visitors. It was their concern that if he gained access to
it, then they would for sure wind up having to take his life.
-
- SO... as he got onto his doorstep, the officers tried
to stop him... it was at THAT moment he pulled out his .45. NONE of the
officers were aware he was armed until he was on his doorstep. He fired
at one of the officers twice, striking him in the head twice.
-
- The wounds WERE life threatening, but he survived, and
now is going through a very long rehabilitation. I was told he is suffering
from partial paralysis on one side of his face is also having difficulty
in some motor skill functions. It is almost a given his career in law enforcement
is over. And may easily face permanent disabilty, and may not be able to
get a job due to his injuries.
-
- It was immediatley after he fired twice at the one officer,
another officer stepped from around the edge of his place and fired on
Bill Cooper, mortally wounding him.
-
- I do live in an area that has many "colorful characters"...
almost all of the folks in this area are very patriotic, and law-abiding
citizens. We have an extremely low crime rate. Most of the folks around
here are knowledgable of the Constitution and of our founding documents
for this country. Most folks have several firearms in their homes, and
most folks are avid hunters, if they are lucky enough to get a tag in the
yearly draw. It is also a predominate LDS (Mormon) area.
-
- Although I agreed with some of what the man, Bill Cooper,
believed in, I disagreed with his "gun waving" tendencies. The
man had fought the IRS in court and was one of the very few to "defeat"
them in court, if not defeat, at least put them at bay for a while. ( I
believe in paying taxes)...(one of the things I disagreed with him on.)
The gun-waving is what got him in deep trouble.
-
- My concerns are that the story portrayed a man with much
more willingness to shoot someone...as if almost looking for an excuse
to shoot someone. To any of your readers who listened to him or whatever...read
his book, etc. He made some big mistakes with the law. It is one thing
to be an avid believer in the 2nd admendment, as I am, but another thing
to wave a gun in someones face.
-
- To anyone who encounters people tresspassing on their
property, or just off the property line; making a lot of loud noise, (teenagers
drinking, etc.) They need to call their local law enforcement and let them
deal with it. Nowadays, it is not such a smart idea to confront a bunch
of teenagers up close and personal... they don't have alot of respect for
adults anymore these days, and a very volitile situation can so EASILY
develop.
-
- As being responsible gun owners, we ALL need to make
sure what we do with a firearm will not land us in jail...and THEREBY give
the anti-gunners a bucket of fuel to toss on their fire for taking them
away from law-abiding citizens. I honestly am surprised this did not get
totally blown out of perportion on CNN. I am quite confident, that if 'ol
cigar-soaking Clinton was still there, it would have made headlines!
-
- All these towns around here are small villages really.
And everyone knows everyone. I had seen Bill Cooper in town before and
said hello to him and received a friendly hello back ( the limit of my
personal contact with him). Was proud of him for standing up for his rights
as he interpreted them...and his backbone to go public. I know about half
of the officers involved in the incident. I have said hello to all of them
at times, too, and am saddened by the incident that stained our community
with a life being taken, and another one severely damaged physically.
-
- A firearm can not be waved in peoples' faces... period.
If you do that, the whole world is gonna come down on you. A firearm is
not to be "used" on a person unless you are in immediate threat
of loss of life. OR... someone else's life is in extreme danger by a "bad
guy". And you better be darn sure before you pull the trigger!
-
- Example: A intruder is in your home downstairs. You come
to the top of the stairs armed with your shotgun... you see a couple of
bad guys hauling off half the silverware and valuables in your home...
do you shoot????
-
- Although, any person, might at this moment really want
to shoot the bastards stealing your stuff, you better not shoot. The county
prosecuter would tear you up in court because your life was NOT in immediate
danger. However, if you hollered at them, and one pulled a pistol out,
then blaze away....... and feel confident you are acting within the law.
-
- I encourage all gunowners to be knowledgable of their
laws in their areas, and make sure you stay within them. We must strive
to be responsible gun owners... and use our firearms in the proper manner
and within the law. Don't let your community become stained with a similar
incident. Regardless of howanyone felt about this man... he certainly was
intelligent man, and stood up for what he believed in... he just went too
far.. stepped over the line, and gave the authorities the reason to confront
him. The rest is a very sad story, and a shame it had to take place.
- Comment
-
- From J.B. Harris
- 12-7-1
-
- A story on your site written by someone who claimed to
know something of the murder of William (Bill) Cooper repeated the lies
of the police, namely that Bill was running to his home from his car.
This is a total lie. Bill Cooper only had one leg, he lost the other during
his military service. Bill could not run if his life had depended on
it. PLEASE remove the story containing this lie, it is only an underhanded
attempt to justify the MURDER of this great man.
-
- Thank you, J.B. Harris
-
-
- Comment
-
- From Spacek
- Spacek@ameritech.net
- 12-7-1
-
- Sounds like a planted story to excuse the police for
their chicanery. They knew darn well they could get shot, they thought
their subterfuge would keep them safe and they were armed and dangerous
on private property, setting someone up to kill or capture and throw away
the key. They didn't identify themselves as police and they weren't uniformed.
How was Cooper supposed to know in the dark who was attacking him?
-
- It's a whole new ballgame, Mr. Anonymous, wait till
they come take you away for legaly owning a gun and storm your property,
maybe shoot one of your loved ones because they didn't respond to a jack
boots command quickly enough. Say 'howdy' in town all you want. Ain't gonna
save your ass anymore then anyone elses who is a law abiding citizen. Look
how our government treats it's own people now-a-days, let alone what they
do to sovereign foreign nations, their people and their resources.
-
- Minding your own 'business' and ignoring a cold blooded
murder in your own community, while spouting a veiled threat to others
who may not be behaving to your specs, ain't gonna save your cowardly
sorry ass. Why do you want to hide the truth? Where's the investigation?
Ya Cooper pricked a lot of ego's and scared the heck out of cowards, but
was that a reason for the law dogs to ambush and assasinate him?
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